5 Years Later
by madwood
Summary: AU where the tailed beast dont exist. Naruto returns after a 5 year absence and gets put in charge of a Genin team with Ino. Naru/Ino love story


i dont own naruto

This is a story of love and happiness, laughs and smiles. I was fortunate to find my other half very early in life. But to tell this story I need to tell you everything. So just sit tight, grab a comfy blanket and some snacks and listen while I tell you the story of meeting my husband.

CHAPTER 1.

Brring brring- THWAP.

"Ugh, damn, alarm don't know why I even set it anymore."

A croaky voice came from the direction of a very fluffy bed. A head of bright blonde hair poked up to see the alarm clock newly embedded in the wall, thanks to the kunai piercing through it. With a grunt the head fell back to the pillow it just recently vacated. The blanket falls as Ino sits up and stretches, bones popping and cracking. Long legs swing over the side of the bed and silently land on the hardwood floor. She stands and walks into the bathroom. Looking forward into a mirror Ino sighs "Shower, light breakfast and off to the Hokage to report in from Leave. Hopefully she finally lets me have a Genin team".

She always thought herself very beautiful. When she was a young Genin she was obsessed with staying skinny and falling in love. But after the Fourth Ninja War, she realized that wasn't the life of a Kunoichi. She took an oath to defend the people of Hidden Leaf Village to her last breath. She returned home and spent all her free time training and gaining experience on missions. She noticed the war had changed people, her friends were all different. Kiba actually matured and went on to become head of his family, retiring as a ninja to deal with the politics that go along with being a head. Hinata and Sakura both joined the Medical Corps, quickly gaining experience they both now work full time at the Hospital while going on the rare mission every now and then. Lee and Neji were the first of all of them to make Jounin and Lee got his own Squad while Neji went to work as Head of the Academy. Choji became a Chunin and Platoon Leader for the City Guard. Shikamaru is currently apprenticing with his father as the Advisory role for the Hokage. He still did the rare mission too.

Tenten took over her Dads weapons shop, they supplied the majority of the weapons and supplies to the ninja of the village. Shino joined the Anbu and Ino hasn't see him but for a few times over the last couple years. Naruto was the biggest change. Naruto parents died during the Third Ninja War. A lot of people thought that Minato Namikaze was going to become the Forth Hokage, His strength was off the charts and he was taught by the Legendary Toad Sage Jiraiya. But sadly he and his wife Kushina Uzumaki both died while protecting their platoon against Hidden Stone Village Ninja. Once news of their sacrifice reached they village, Kakashi and Rin who were part of the three man Genin team along with their deceased partner Obito Uchiha who died at the beginning of the Third Ninja War, with Minato decided to take in the infant Naruto who was only a couple months old at the time. Growing up Naruto used to play pranks on the villagers he used it as a kind of training. Kakashi taught him a lot about stealth and recon, which he used in his pranks. He was always a goof and liked to clown around, bouncing all over the place like a hyperactive pinball. But when it came to school, he was top of his class right behind Ino of course. The war changed him though, he became withdrawn at the end of it. And no one really heard from him for a couple months afterwards. Then out of the blue one day he told her he was leaving. That he ask the Hokage to take him off the active roster and that he was going to go try to figure himself out. That was 5 years ago, and she missed him something terrible. She stepped into the shower and started to remember what he was like their first day as a team.

~~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~~~

"Nara, Uzumaki and Yamanaka Team 10. Sensei Jounin Asuma Sarutobi." Iruka Umino stated while reading from a piece of paper. Three pairs of eyes swerved to look as a young looking bearded man leaning against the wall of the classroom.

"YO" he said with a smile while giving a small wave. "Meet me at training ground 44 in one hour." He said while disappearing in a swirl of leaves. The three freshly minted Genin exchanged a look that said they didn't think much of this new Sensei. They got up and walked out of the room. Walking side by side they chatted idly about what they thought would be there first couple days as Genin would be like.

"I hope we go on missions to save captured Princess and take on gangs of bandits!" the hyperactive Spiky blonde haired Uzumaki said while miming stabbing someone with a kunai.

Ino flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Well I hope we get to travel and see amazing things. Like beautiful lakes and breathtaking wild flower fields." She had her hands clasped on her heart with stars in her eyes.

Shikamaru sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I just hope we don't die in the first week that would just be troublesome." Both his teammates gave him a glare.

As they were walking they spot their favorite place to eat, Ichiraku Ramen Stand. Shikamaru looks at his watch and says "well we got about 40 mins before we have to be at the Training grounds so if we eat quickly we should be fine." Naruto cheered and ran off towards the stand. Shikamaru and Ino both exchanged looks and small grins at their best friend's antics, then ran off after him.

~~~~ FLASHBACK ENDS~~~~

She shook herself out of her day dream and sighed while she rinsed the soap out of her hair. Stepping out of the shower she dried off and got dressed. Pulling on her now normal attire she reminisced about how different she dressed today compared to as a Genin. Pulling on her battle gloves she turned and looked in the full length mirror. She now wore the normal Jounin vest over a black mesh long sleeve shirt. She had on black cargo pants, her eft leg had multiple scrolls of different uses (gear, food and message storage scrolls.). Her right leg had her kunai pouch and her headband tied to her thigh, high toped combat boots . Shining silver metal arm and shin protectors glint from her arms and legs. A handle for a pair of Kodachi could be seen sticking out of the top of each combat boot. She was quite fond of her kodachi, they were a gift from Naruto that he got from one of his missions with Jiraiya. Slightly smaller than normal Kodachi they only were about 10 inches in blade length with a 4 inch handle. What made these so special was the coloration of the blades. Both had dark streaks throughout the metal. Naruto said it was made from a type of metal called Damascus steel. It was extremely hard and kept a razor sharp edge. Smiling she tied her long hair into a ponytail and put on her reflective sunglasses something she got from her father. They had seals inscribed on them that allowed her to flow a small amount of chakra into them that let her see different things, such as chakra flow and heat trails. Looking around one last time she sighed and leaped out her bedroom window, and set course for the Hokage's office.

5 mins later she was walking up the stairs to the office lost in thought. "Boo" It was said soft and so close to her ear she felt the hot breath and the smell…of ramen? Spinning around kunai in her hand she dropped into defensive stance. She felt the cold steel of a kunai on her throat.

"Oh my Ino, 5 years and this is how you treat me? I don't know whether to be proud of you or ashamed you got caught so easily."

"Aww but Naruto who says I got caught?" she giggled through a big grin. Just then the young man felt the wire tighten around his throat. With a grimace on his face he quickly glanced left and right finding two exact copies of Ino standing smirking holding the ends of the garrote.

"Fair enough, I surrender." He sighed. Ino smirked and canceled the shadow clones while turning and wrapping her arms around Naruto. "Welcome home Naruto" she whispered into his chest. He laughed a deep throaty laugh,

"Thanks Ino, on your way to see Granny?" releasing Naruto she stands back and takes a long look at him before answering.

'He sure has changed a lot since he left. He looks like the Fourth now.' She thought to herself. Standing at over 6 feet tall now he had on black body armor that covered his whole body head to toe. Kind of like a body suit. It had long cuts and scuff marks all over it that showed he had lots of battles. He had high top combat boots like her but it looked like he had a small dagger on his left one and a set of three folded shuriken on his right. His left thigh had scrolls on it same as her, which wasn't surprising because Sensei Asuma always made them store their gear in scrolls to save weight. His right thigh had a seal on it that she was unfamiliar with but looked like it said dog. His chest plate had scuff marks all over it and some deep cuts. It looked to be made of the same metal as her kodachi. But looked almost paper thin. His arms and legs were covered in the same metal but it conformed to his body like her mesh shirt did. On his left hip sat a larger scroll that had no markings but was blood red with a silver cord wrapped around it. His leaf head band seem to be a part of his chest plate with the insignia over the left pectoral, fingerless gloves with spikes on the knuckles and the kanji for wind on back and the Kanji for fire on the palm of them. Her eyes roamed up to his face and saw that same sly grin that is in her dreams at night. Moving up his deep blue eyes shined with mischief and a slight edge of power. His Unruly hair spilling over his ears and down to his shoulders. His bangs covered his forehead, and framed his face nicely. The only new addition to his face was a long scar that went from his left eyebrow, down his eye and across his lips. Ending at the tip of his chin. It looked deep and was only about a quarter of an inch wide.

She reached up and traced his scar as she answered is question.

"Yes I was, it is my first day back from leave and I have report in and see what my tasks for the day are, are you heading there too?" she kept rubbing his scar, just tracing it from brow to chin.

"Yeah, I just got back about ten minutes ago and I'm dyin' for some ramen, but I figured that Granny would kick my ass if I didn't stop in and say hi" he said while leaning into her touch.

Ino giggled and agreed. They continued to banter as old friends do until they reached the top of the stairs when they both looked up to see large wooden double doors.

The receptionist sitting outside at the desk looked up and smiled when she saw who it was. "Welcome back Mr. Uzumaki. It's good to see you too Miss Yamanaka. The Hokage is free now, if you would like to go in." she said. "Well, it's now or never" said Naruto. Grinning at Ino he grabbed the handles and swung the doors open. He walked in and screamed "YO OLD HAG IM HOME!"

'The Hokage hasn't changed much from when they were kids' Ino thought. The Hokage looked up from her papers and glared witch after many years she had perfected. Standing up she marched over to Naruto and grabbed him by his hair and put him in a head lock, now the Hokage was only 5'2" so with Naruto being almost a foot taller than her it was almost comical seeing Naruto bent over at such a drastic angle. She wore the traditional Kimiko of the medical corps. Ankle length and dark green with the word Doctor in kanji on the back. She ware leather wrap sandals that went to her shins. Blonde hair framed her Pixie face that adorned a Blue diamond on the center of her forehead.

She stood squeezing his head under her arms and then said "you've got 5 seconds to convince me why I shouldn't kill you where you stand you Idiot."

"5 YEARS!" The slug queen yelled while smacking the spiky haired blonde on top of his head. Naruto struggled under her grip, trying to pull himself out of it. "But Tsun-." Naruto squeaked out. Tsunade cut him off "NO CONTACT FOR FIVE YEARS YOU BRAT!. JIRAIYA DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE YOU WERE. SIERIOUSLY YOU COULDN'T EVEN SEND LITTLE RIPPER TO SAY YOU OK!" at this point Tsunade let him go then grabbed him in a bone crushing hug. "agggg--aiii--rr yo--u o—ld--hagggggggg." Sighing she let him go and grabbed his face placing a kiss on his forehead. "Next time you decide you need to train. At least send Ripper to me so I know you were alive." He wrapped his arms around her holding her close. "Im sorry granny I didn't mean to worry you, just need to be alone for a while." The whole time Ino was just standing smiling at the scene knowing it wasn't her place to mess up this happy reunion. When the two broke apart, Tsunade went back and sat in her chair. Leaning forward she steppled her fingers in front of her.

"Report" she said with a serious tone. Both ninja jumped to attention. "Jonin Yamanaka, Ino reporting from leave Hokage." "I trust you ready for duty Yamanaka?" "Yes ma'am". Nodding she turned her gaze to Naruto. "Genin Uzumaki, Naruto requesting to return to active duty roster Hokage." "Permission granted. Stay put because I have an announcement for you and new tasking." Naruto salutes and stands as ease. "Jonin Yamanaka are you ready for you new assignment?" "Yes ma'am" "Due to your recent mission success I have seen fit to assign you a Genin team. You team I Team 5, an infiltration and assignation team. It consists of Genin Inzuka, Kenji the unit's tracker as well assault. Genin Kurama, Kotori the unit's genjutsu specialist and spy. And the final member is, Genin Taketori, Yasushi kenjutsu specialist and team captain. You are to meet team 5 at training ground 42. Are there any questions?" Ino salutes and says no. "Stick around for just a little Yamanaka you will want to be here for this." Turning her gaze back to Naruto she reached under her desk and grabbed a Chunin vest. But this vest was different, It was a little beat up like it had seen many battles. Ino gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

Tsunade stood up and tossed the vest to Naruto. "Due to your completion of over 45 B-rank missions and 20 A-rank missions during the Fourth Shinobi War, that saved countless lives, I promote Genin Uzumaki, Naruto to the rank of Chunin." Tsunade smiled and sat back down "Congratulations, this vest belonged to Kakashi when he was a Chunin. He's currently on an S-rank mission and can't give it to you so asked me to give it to you in his place." Naruto smiled while staring at the vest his brother gave to him. "Thank you Hokage, I'll make you and this village proud believe it!" Naruto said with a determined look on his face. Tsunade Laughed and said "Good I have faith in you Naruto, are you ready for your assignment? The jonin Trials are coming up in four months. Your assignment is to train for them while also assisting team 5 in missions and training is that understood?" both Ino and Naruto snapped to attention and salutes. "Yes Hokage!" they say in unison. "Then dismissed." Tsunade said with a wave of her hand. The two turn to walk away. "And Naruto" they heard the voice of Tsunade said. Naruto turned to see the busty blonde glaring at him. "Dan and I will very upset if you don't come to dinner tonight." Naruto scratched the back of his head and grins. "I'll be there granny". The couple turned and walked out of the room.

Once they were outside Naruto turned towards Ino. "I'll meet you and the brats in a couple hours at training ground 44, say 1600?" before Ino could reply there was a yellow flash and Naruto was gone.

"Gurrr" Ino growled and glared at the spot Naruto just was. "How dare he just disappear again after not seeing him for 5 Years!" but even if she was mad she couldn't help letting a small grin cover her face at his impulsiveness. "Well better go get ready for the twerps" Grinning sadistically she took off towards the Forest of Death.


End file.
